Voters cast ballots this morning in legislative and municipal elections in Burkina Faso.More than 6,000 candidates are competing for 127 seats in parliament as 4 million voters have registered for the elections held at more than 14,600 polling stations across Burkina Faso with polls set to close at 1800 GMT.

Polls opens at 6:00 am with lines of 10 to 15 people were seen voting calmly in neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou.

These are the first elections since a crisis in early 2011 in this West African country, when a wave of mutinies, in parallel with violent popular protests, almost toppled the administration of Compaore, who has been in power since a military coup in 1987.
Faced with a still divided opposition, Compaore's powerful Congress for Democracy and Progress party enters the contest as the big favourite despite internal tensions.

These elections will be a test case a year and a half after violence that almost toppled the administration of President Blaise Compaore.